Front placket for female{40 s blouse

ABSTRACT

A front placket for a female&#39;&#39;s blouse having an outer fabric covering supported internally by an interlining strip, and wherein said interlining strip has (a) folded under marginal edges to increase its bulk and thus provide support to the corresponding marginal edges of the fabric covering so as to minimize wrinkling therein and (b) is oriented on the bias, i.e., the yarns thereof are aligned at a 45* angle to the placket length, so that despite the aforesaid increased marginal bulk of the interlining it does not inhibit flexing or draping of the placket, as is required to achieve proper fit of the garment.

United States Patent 91 Weiss 1 Jan. 29, 1974 FRONT PLACKET FOR'FEMALE'S BLOUSE [76] Inventor: George Weiss, 520 Magnola Blvd.,

52 US. Cl. 2/106, 2/128- [51] Int. Cl A41b l/20 [58] Field of Search... 2/84, 85, 88, 90, 93, 96, 102, 2/105, 106, 108, 115, 118, 121, 218, 234,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,733,446 2/1956 Macridesm, 2/128 2,686,315 8/1954 Kaplan 4 2/128 2,202,625 5/1940 DuPree l i 2/128 X 2,607,921 8/1952 Jones l 2/128 2,697,833 12/1954 Kaplan 2/128 2,780,816 2/1957 Saltzman 2/128 Primary Examiner-Werner H. Schroeder Attorney, Agent, or FirmBauer & Amer [57] ABSTRACT A front placket for a females blouse having an outer fabric covering supported internally by an interlining strip, and wherein said interlining strip has (a) folded under marginal edges to increase its bulk and thus provide support to the corresponding marginal-edges of the fabric covering so as to minimize wrinkling therein and (b) is oriented on the bias, i.e., the yarns thereof are aligned at a 45 angle to the placket length, so that despite the aforesaid increased marginal bulk of the interlining it does not inhibit flexing or draping of the placket, as is required to achieve proper fit of the garment.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIED 3 787 896 FIGS FIG-3 FRONT PLACKET FOR FEMALE'S BLOUSE The present invention relates generally to an improved construction for the front placket of a females blouse, the improvements more particularly contributing to a no-iron placket that is practically totally devoid of wrinkles.

As may be readily appreciated, the visually prominent position of a blouse front placket makes it the neatness standard by which the blouse is judged; if the placket exhibits or has manifested therein wrinkles or other surface uneveness, this greatly detracts from a neat appearance in the blouse. Thus, to achieve a smooth or neat-appearing placket, it is the practice to internally support the outer fabric covering thereof with a comparatively stiff interlining material.

An important contribution of the present invention is the recognition that the stiffness alone of the interlining will not minimize wrinkles along the opposite side edges of the fabric that are tucked under the interlining. The interlining additionally must have the bulk to remain in supporting contact with the fabric at the fold lines of its folded or tucked under marginal portions. However, said increased bulk of necessity produces a corresponding increased stiffness along the interlining side edges, and this must not be permitted to interfere with the wrinkle-free flexuring or drapability of the placket, particularly as it must conform to the underlying shape of the wearers bosom because of its central location oriented lengthwise of the blouse.

Broadly, it is an object to provide an improved front placket for a blouse having both the requisite internal stiffness to minimize wrinkles and also adequate flexibility to smoothly assume curvatures, thereby overcoming shortcomings of prior art plackets heretofore used for a females blouses. Specifically, it is an object to supplement the edge support provided by the interlining by also folding under its marginal edges, but lessening the extent of stiffness that this produces to a tolerable extent, from the viewpoint of drape and flexuring, by the orientation of the yarns of the interlining.

A placket construction demonstrating objects and advantages of the present invention, as above noted, includes an interlining having folded under marginal edges so as to remain in supporting contact with its covering fabric to thus minimize wrinkles that would result in said fabric if such support was not provided. Additionally, the interlining is cut so the yarns thereof are oriented at an angle of approximately 45 to the longitudinal dimension of the placket and this, surprisingly, has favorably effected its flexuring performance to permit its use in the placket, despite the fold under-of its marginal edges.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiment in accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a blouse embodying a front placket construction according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view, on an enlarged scale, with portions thereof broken away to better illustrate internal structural features of the placket;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, in section taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2, which illustrates further structural features of the placket;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view illustrating the manner in which the placket assumes curvature without manifesting wrinkles or other surface uneveness;

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, but illustrates a placket exemplary of only a partial solution, in that said placket lacks the construction necessary to avoid manifesting wrinkles when placed in curvature; and

FIG. 6 illustrates the construction of said FIG. 5 placket, the same being in the same manner of presentation as FIG. 2 so as to emphasize the differences therebetween.

Illustrated in the drawings is a blouse 10 embodying the improved construction for a front placket 12 according to the present invention. Among other noteworthy features, placket 12 has an extremely smooth and neat appearance which is almost totally devoid of wrinkles and thus, in an obvious way, contributes to the neat appearance of the blouse 10. In fact, the wrinklefree appearance of placket 12 exists after washing of the blouse 10 and without any ironing of the placket, of a touch-up nature or otherwise. The importance of this is obvious, since the placket 12 occupies a visually prominent central position oriented longitudinally of the blouse 10 and thus is the neatness standard by which the blouse is judged.

The wrinkle-free condition of the placket 12 is unusual from at least two points of view. First, since placket 12 is stitched, as along the seams l4 and 16, to the blouse 10, it would be expected that there would be a manifestation of stitch pucker in the area of the seams 14, 16, and certainly along the opposite side edges 18 and 20 of the placket. The manner in which stitch pucker and wrinkles are obviated from the edges 18 and 20 will be discussed in detail subsequently.

The second source of wrinkles that would be expected to be manifested in the placket 12 is related to the placket having to assume a draped relation over the wearers bosom, and thus having to assume a curvature, as along the length portion 22, of a corresponding curvature or shape. Surprisingly, the manifestation of wrinkles from this source is almost totally eliminated by the improved construction of the placket 12.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that the improved placket 12 hereof includes a covering or outer fabric 24, which may be cotton, polyester, or a blend of natural and synthetic fibers. As generally understood, fabric 12 is generally in strip form and has its opposite marginal portions 26 and 28 folded under to provide the previously noted finished edges 18 and 20 which are coincident with the fold lines delineating the main fabric body 24 from its marginal portions 26, 28.

To provide stiffness and body to the placket 12, a strip of interlining 30 has an interposed position between the covering fabric strip 24 and the blouse l0. Interlining 30 is typically a woven polyester construcion and, as such, has warp and fill yarns, individually and collectively designated 32 and 34, respectively, i.e., one set of yarns oriented in one direction and another set in a crossing direction to constitute a typical woven construction.

It is recognized that to avoid wrinkles in the edges 18 and 20, the interlining 30, like the covering fabrics 24, should have its marginal portions 36 and 38 folded under. More particularly, it has been found that in the absence of sufficient bulk in the interlining 30 which is provided by its folded-under marginal portions 36 and 38, the placket fabric 24 lacks support along the edges 18 and 20, and there is thus collapsing along these edges which manifests itself as unsightly wrinkles. However, while supplying this bu-lk obviates the problem just mentioned, when the interlining strip 30 is oriented as illustrated in FIG. 6, it actually contributes to the creation of wrinkles when the placket 12 has to assume a draped or curved configuration. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the interliner 30 is arranged on the straight, i.e., with either one or the other of the warp or fill yarns 32, 34 arranged parallel to the longitudinal edges of the placket 12, the bulk that is added by the turned in marginal edges 36,38 contributes to a stiffness along the interliner side edges of an extent which inhibits smooth flexuring ofthe placket 12. This is demonstrated in FIG. 5, to which reference is now made. The placket 12 illustrated therein will be understood to have an interliner with folded under marginal edges and with one of the yarns oriented paralled to the side edges of the placket and, in practice, manifests or exhibits wrinkles 40 when flexed through even a modest curvature 22, as required, for example, when assuming a draping relation over the wearers bosom as indicated in connection with FIG. I. Wrinkles 40 appear to emanate from points of stress concentration, individually and collectively designated 42, which occur as a result of the excessive stiffness or rigidity of the folded under marginal edges of the interliner 30, when said interliner is oriented as illustrated in FIG, 6.

An important contribution of the present invention, however, is the recognition that the bulk added by folding under the marginal edges of the interliner do not present an excessively stiff edge for the placket 12 when said interliner is oriented on the bias. That is, when the yarns 32 and 34 are oriented at substantially 45 to the longitudinal dimension of the placket 12, as illustrated in FIG. 2, this orientation in the interliner has been found to completely obviate the creation of points of stress 42 and wrinkles during flexuring of the placket 12. This wrinkle-free condition of the placket 12, when having the bias oriented interlining 30, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is demonstrated in FIG. 4. As shown therein, placket l2 constructed as illustrated in FIG. 2, when flexed through a curvature 22, is able to assume said curved configuration with perfectly smooth side edges 18, 20. Thus, the outer fabric 24 of the placket 12 has a noteworthy neat appearance due to the absence of wrinkles in the side edges 18, 20, because of the bulk support provided by the interliner 30, and yet it is also devoid of wrinkles, such as the previ ously noted wrinkles 40, when being flexed through a curvature 22 during the time that the blouse is worn.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure, and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

What is claimed is:

l. A front placket construction for a females blouse having a visually prominent central position oriented longitudinally thereof in draped relation over the wearers bosom, said construction comprising an elongated covering fabric strip having folded under marginal edges positioned in said prominent central location on said blouse, a correspondingly sized strip of woven interlining having yarns oriented at an angle of 45 to the longitudinal direction of said placket in interposed position between said covering fabric strip and said blouse, said strip of interlining having similarly folded under marginal edges in supporting relation along said marginal edges of said fabric strip to obviate collapse therein and any wrinkles evidencing said collapse, and two seams located adjacent and parallel to said longitudinal edges of said placket securing said placket to said blouse and holding said supporting position of said inwardly folded marginal edges of interlining within said inwardly folded marginal edges of said covering fabric strip, whereby the interlining and covering fabric strip areas coincident with the fold lines therein delineating said folded under marginal edges assume smooth curving configurations in said draping condition of said placket. 

1. A front placket construction for a female''s blouse having a visually prominent central position oriented longitudinally thereof in draped relation over the wearer''s bosom, said construction comprising an elongated covering fabric strip having folded under marginal edges positioned in said prominent central location on said blouse, a correspondingly sized strip of woven interlining having yarns oriented at an angle of 45* to the longitudinal direction of said placket in interposed position between said covering fabric strip and said blOuse, said strip of interlining having similarly folded under marginal edges in supporting relation along said marginal edges of said fabric strip to obviate collapse therein and any wrinkles evidencing said collapse, and two seams located adjacent and parallel to said longitudinal edges of said placket securing said placket to said blouse and holding said supporting position of said inwardly folded marginal edges of interlining within said inwardly folded marginal edges of said covering fabric strip, whereby the interlining and covering fabric strip areas coincident with the fold lines therein delineating said folded under marginal edges assume smooth curving configurations in said draping condition of said placket. 